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W I Y K YFKWRW m KM ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE AND METHGD AND APPARATUS FDR PRODUCING SAMIE Games Slayter, Newark, Ohio, Henry J. Snow, Kansas City, Mo., and Samuel D. Philipps, Granville, (lino, assignors to Owens-Corning Fibergias Corporation, Toledo, Ghio, a corporation of Delaware Application November 23, 1953, Serial No. 393,833

33 Claims. (Cl. 154-47) This invention relates to mats or bats of fibers and method and apparatus for producing same, the invention more especially relating to the production of mats or bats of multilayer or laminar construction fabricated of fibers from mineral materials, and is a continuation-in-part of our application Serial Number 234,252, filed June 29, 1951, issued into Patent No. 2,736,362.

Heretofore in the production or manufacture of fibrous insulating units, it has been a usual practice to form a binder-impregnated, haphazardly arranged mass of mineral fibers, cure the binder and subdivide the mass into mats or bats of desired dimension suitable for heat or sound insulation or other purposes. In forming bats or mats of this character, the fibers are produced from fusible minerals such as fusible rock, slag, or glass by flowing streams or" glass or other material from a supply and attenuating, fiberizing or drawing out the streams to fiber form by engaging the streams with blasts of steam or other gas and as the fibers are formed, a suitable binder usually in aqueous solution or suspension is applied thereto.

The fibers thus formed are collected in a haphazard mass upon a movable foraminous conveyor, the mass being moved throgh fixation rollers to establish a desired thickness and density of the fibrous assembly which is then conveyed through a curing zone or oven of a suitable temperature to cure or set the binder and thus impart mass integrity to the fibrous assembly. The fibrous assembly is then cut or severed into sizes especially adaptable for installations of the mats or bats for particular purposes as for insulating stoves, refrigerators, and other allied The methods employed in spraying or applying a binder 'onto the fibers may not facilitate or result in a uniform distribution of the binder through the fibers and hence in many instances the bats or mats have zones of concentrations of the binder while other zones may be sparsely treated with the binder. A lack of homogeneity of the binder constituent in the mass may reduce the insulating efiiciency as concentrations of the binder material provide a facile path for the transfer or transmission of heat.

In forming mats or bats of fibers in the foregoing mentioned manner, the fibers are of indiscriminate lengths; and under the influence of the turbulence existing in the fiber-forming hood augmented by the presence of the binder, the fibers are deposited in a haphazard mass with fibers of varying lengths extending in all directions. In such an assembled mass, many of the fibers extend from one major face of the mass to the other. The fibers that extend through the mat provide a direct medium or path for conveying heat readily from one face to the other and as mineral fibers have a relative heat conductivity factor higher than air, the insulating valueof the mat or bat may in many instances be impaired or reduced by such condition.

By reason of the haphazard assembly of the fibers at the time of their formation into a single agglomerate or 11 nited States Patent 6' Patented Mar. 19, 1957 mass, control of orientation or positioning of individual fibers or groups of fibers is practically impossible, and the insulating value of fibrous mats or bats fabricated by such methods may vary over a wide range dependent upon the number of fibers in a given zone extending crosswise or transversely through the mat.

In applying the binder to the fibers, an aqueous solution or suspension is utilized which is usually low in solids or hinder content in attempting to secure a distribution of the binder among the fibers. The application of the binder in a liquid injected onto the fibers in the forming chamber and the presence of lubricants applied to the fibers to reduce interabrasion have a tendency to interfere with an even fall of the fibers and cause them to become entangled as they move to the collecting surface. The fibers are collected upon a foraminous surface aided by suction or reduced pressure. As the fibers build up into a comparatively thick mass, back pressures of the fiberattenuating gases may be encountered in the fiber-forming chamber as the suction is diminished by the gradual increase in thickness of the collected mass, a. condition fostering turbulence in the fiber-forming chamber and formation of wads or clumps of fibers. The presence of wads or tangled clumps of fibers in the mat tends to reduce the insulating efiiciency of the product.

Furthermore, the aqueous constituents of the binder application must be vaporized or driven off in the bindercuring process, an operation requiring a large amount of heat and hence increasing the cost of the product.

The present invention embraces a method and apparatus for producing fibrous mats or assemblies wherein the cost of fabrication thereof is greatly reduced and the insulating value or efiiciency of the produce improved over prior fibrous mat constructions.

An object of the invention resides in a method and apparatus for forming a relatively thin veil, web or stratum of attenuated fibers folded or lapped upon itself to form a mat in a manner eliminating the projection of individual fibers from one major face of the mat to the other.

The method of the invention embraces the steps of forming fibers of mineral material and collecting them in individual layers or webs which are caused to be brought into contiguous relation to form a relatively thin layer or veil of a laminated character wherein the fibers of one layer do not extend or project through to the outer surface of the other layer whereby the insulation factor is greatly improved over prior fibrous insulating units.

An object of the invention resides in a method of forming and collecting masses ofmineral fibers in spaced zones, bringing the collected masses into contiguous relation and applying a binding material in a manner whereby the material is distributed through the contiguous layers of fibers thus augmenting the insulating efiiciency by reason of the uniform distribution of binding material in and throughout the layers of fibers.

Another object of the invention resides in the production of a fibrous mat having high insulating characteristics with a minimum amount of fibrous material.

Another object of the invention resides in a method of attenuating streams of mineral material to ,fibers in separated groups and orienting the groups of fibers in coincident relation to form a depending multilayer veil which is continuously folded upon itself to form an insulating mat of many layers of theveil assembled in angular or echelon relation whereby the insulating characteristics of I the mat are improved with a minimum of weight and thickness.

Another object of the invention is the provision of apparatus for continuously forming and collecting groups of fibers into individual layers and bringing the layers into contiguous relation and applying a comminuted or powdered binding material to the layers of fibers and vibrating 

